Set aside the mystery of Anwar getting kicked before Scott Savol. Set aside Paula Abdul's ever more mysterious presence on the show at all, or the question as to what kind of psychotropic meds she takes. Set aside your deep, deep, almost violent irritation whenever Ryan Seacrest says, "Seacrest, Out."
Move all that immediate stuff to the side and ask yourself; haven't I really had a snootful of this show by now?
I'm a performer. Watching Idol is fun for me because it is familiar and alien all at once. As a classical vocalist, I know all about sweating through a competition. But I've never been a pop singer, so I can watch the show from a comfortable remove. I like to think I'm a pretty good judge of who the best singers are, but in the end, my performing occurs in a slightly different universe, so I might as well be watching a documentary about tribes who speak to one another in clicks and warbles.
That said, it seems like American Idol is overstaying its welcome on the American Stage.
Witness stories in the news today, April 21, 2005:
- Ryan Seacrest gets a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. I mean... even Ryan Seacrest said, upon hearing about this, "I actually thought it was a joke when I heard that they were going to do this." Talk radio genius Phil Hendrie, one of the funniest men in entertainment, period, has used Seacrest getting a star as fodder for more than a few bits on his show of late. One of Hendrie's most irascible characters, his "president of syndication," David G. Hall, calls in regularly to remind Phil that it will be his job to keep Seacrest's star clean once it's set in the Walk of Fame. In an interview I watched on CNN, when the reporter basically asked Seacrest why he was getting a star, he stumbled a bit, looking uncomfortable, and said something vague about his 15 years in radio. If nothing else, the man seemed a bit embarrassed. Whether Hollywood knows it or not, the rest of America has viewed that star as a special honor reserved for celebrities who have made some substantial contribution to their chosen art. Apparently we are finding that Hollywood always figured that if the fan clubs could pony up the money, ANYONE could get a star. Yo, where's MINE, G? If it were up to me, for the record, Hendrie would get one over Seacrest and just about anyone else on radio, but that's for the ages to decide.
- ABC is going after AI. Yep, you read that right. Primetime Live is digging into Idol and one gets the impression the result will not be pretty. From the article I linked:
(...)Primetime Live's staff is still in the process of preparing the story and confirming its facts, it is believed that the report has been in the works for "several months." While the exact details of the report are still being determined, the trade paper reports that the Primetime Live report will "take a hard look at the relationship between Idol judges and contestants."
~ Word is, they think this will be a "potentially explosive exposé." To me, this spells the beginning of the end of AI.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Eric Olsen
very nice job Steve and I agree with much of it, but on one point I thik the show and the subsequent musical careers of the contestants are two very separate things, and the health of one doesn't necessarily reflect on the health of the other, as counterintuitive as that may seem.
I will be very interested to hear with the ABC investigation finds, but I will be fairly suprprised if they find anything that actually damages the show.
I move this over to Video because it's really about the TV show and not about the music per se.
2 - Steve
What does it say about the show's worth then that winners don't succeed all that well later? About it's validity? I think that was the point I didn't make, but wanted to. Thanks for the judicious move.
3 - Eric Olsen
Kelly, Clay, Ruben and Fantasia have all done "well" in terms of beign platinum-selling recording artists and good live draws, but I have come to think that the show is an entity unto itself. I personally get quite involved in the process and go through the emotions but I couldn't really care less what they do musically after they leave the show because it is very unlikely that anyone who ever does well on the show will record music I am interested in as music.
But I am interested in the musical performances on the show because of the competition and spectacle. Take that away and it's just more pop, but with the competition and the spectacle it's gold.
4 - Steve
I do see your point. As I said - I basically enjoy AI.
I have to wonder, though, what the hell Primetime Live could have found that they would go after AI like this? That's just damned puzzling to me. For any cracks I might see in the show's facade as a stronghold at it's spot on Fox's schedule, I still can't imagine what would be worth the attention of a major newsmagazine. Now there's some interesting speculation. I smell a 'Quiz Show' kind of scenario coming. With Scott Savol as Herb Stempel.
5 - Eric Olsen
I am absolutely astonished by the show's continued popularity - I'm sure they are too
6 - Rico & Katrina
We can enlighten you about the radio and Clay Aiken. They absolutely positively refuse to play him no matter how many people ask for his songs! We have requested The Way, Solitaire and I Will Carry You at various times and at various stations and always get a resounding no. Why? We believe it is because of a certain fan group who go out of their way to discredit and hurt Clay's career. This fan group can't stand the fact that the media always says Clay is the most successful Idol. We have talked to many people who have been witnesses to the ridiculous things these people did to try to stop radio from playing Clay. We have spoken to many people who request Clay's songs and are refused. One woman actually lost it and cried when the DJ said 'people' don't want to hear Clay on the radio. What was she? An alien?
7 - chris
it's called a backlash. Everyone goes through some sort of backlash..It's just a matter of who comes out strong at the end of it.
I won't be suprised by anything they "find"... As it's almost obvious they know some of the Idols from BEFORE the competition.
8 - Steve
Well... I'll ask; who is blocking this? I wouldn't call myself a fan per se, but I think Clay Aiken has one of the better voices I've ever heard in the competition. I've always wondered why he didn't go a kind of Josh Groban route, as I see some correspondence between the two styles, though Groban makes no bones about having had a little classical training or including classical music in his albums, and I certainly can't see Clay doing that, even if he did train classically (I don't know that he did, just saying...) Point being, if the sort of "classical" sounding Groban can get soft-top 40 radio play, why can't Clay?
9 - Steve S
I hear Clay on the radio all the time, although I always change the station. I don't think I've ever heard him on soft rock radio, but I've heard him on the one that markets itself as "80's,90's and now". They play Kelly alot and every now and then Kimberly Locke.
I've never heard Diana DeGarmo, Fantasia or Reuben on the radio.
I hear Vonzell just completed her debut CD.
10 - Sharon
I have to agree with you that Clay has the best voice to come out of that program and ditto the comments above about DJs refusing to play his songs. They don't appear to care what the public wants and go with what they personally want to do. I think they should be fired for ignoring repeated requests to hear Clay's songs played. I have to disagree with you about Clay's fading into the past. He is still a very huge draw on a lot of TV shows including Leno and Jimmny Kimmel Live. They regularly schedule him during sweep week because their ratings sky rocket when he is on their show. He even had a small role on Scrubs this spring. Clay also had his own Christmas special and his 2004 Christmas album is the highest selling holdiday album in recorded history. His book was at the top of the New York Times best seller list last December and people can't wait for his next album to come out. They are also snapping up tickets to his next concert tour as fast as they can be bought. Fading into the past, I think not! To the contrary I think that he is well on the way to becoming even more popular than ever. To the DJs out there, get over yourselves and let people hear what they request.
11 - Natalie Davis
No Clay on radio? Puh-leeze. Clay Aiken is a big fave on lite-rock / hits of the '70s-'80s-'90s-today schlock format.
As for DJs playing what the listeners want, don't kid yourself. On most corporate radio, the DJs play what the program director/ corporation/ consultants/ Radio and Records tells 'em to play. Requests? Just for show. Corporate jocks live to tell the masses what they will hear -- it is NOT the other way around. Playlists are sacrosanct. DJs don't work for you, the listener. They do the bidding of their bosses, and those bosses work for advertisers. As far as radio is concerned, the listener is a pawn to be instructed, controlled, and inspired to buy the prescribed "product."
12 - Steve
Natalie, that was brilliant. Sort of a "1984 is NOW" take on the radio industry. Color me impressed.
13 - Nancy
The DJ's won't play Clay as long as Kelly fans keep spamming Promosquad and Rate the Music! I used to like Kelly, voted for her, bought her first CD, Thankful then I saw the nastiness on Bolt by her fans and I won't ever buy another product of hers as long as I live! I am not as nasty as them though I won't spam the polls from promosquad and ratethemusic. They ruined my love for Kelly!
14 - Rico & Katrina
Just check out how many times The Way, Solitaire and I Will Carry You has been played. BS! Only certain areas play them and not very often because of the BS. We agree with what Nancy said above- Kelly fans!
15 - sonja valentine
sheesh, am i the ONLY one never to have seen this show? or survivor, or the apprentice, or...well, you get the idea
16 - cj
I don't quite understand why you think that Ruben and/or Fantasia are not doing well. Ruben is working on his third album, is up for three gospel awards for his second cd, best new artist, best artist, and best song of the year, he is doing television, and will be on again on the 26th on All of Us. He has been nominated for a 'grammy', and has won a NAACP award for best new artist. He has a movie in the works, and has already done a movie, "Scoobie Doo II", he has numerous appearances scheduled, from the Kentucky Derby Gala in May to Caesar's Palace in Sept/Oct, with many others in between. He has his own 'Velvet Teddy Bear', in two sizes, named for him. If you do not listen to R&B radio stations, you will not hear Ruben, as he is not considered a pop star as Kelly is.
I read that Josh Grobin's favorite idol is Ruben, and that he definately deserved to win, as he has that velvetty voice, that is only getting better as he gets a little older and more confidence.
From what I have heard and read, Clay is not played on the radio, because of HIS fans, and their threats. Dj's stick together, and over exuberant fans actually threatened dire circumstances, if Clay's music was not played. Believe me, dj's definately play what the public wants, (except in the matter of Clay) as they are the ones that buy the music, and the products that are advertised on the show. Maybe the dj's will eventually forget the past problems with his fans.
All of the idols are doing their thing, and doing it well and they are all financially secure. I am a Ruben fan, and I hear and read about him daily, and never hear anything about Clay, or Kelly, unless they are mentioned in the article I am reading about Ruben, so it just depends on where your interests are, and mine are on the 'Velvet Teddy Bear'.
17 - Natalie Davis
"Believe me, dj's definately play what the public wants, (except in the matter of Clay) as they are the ones that buy the music"
I've been working in and around radio since the age of 17. Trust me, radio programmers want you to believe what you said, but it is not reality. How does the public decide what it wants? Radio -- corporate, commercial radio -- decides for them.
And if someone refuses to buy Kelly Clarkson's music because they don't like her fans, who have nothing to do with her or her music, then deep down, they're just not into Clarkson's music as much as they claim.
18 - Nancy
I voted for Kelly every week, I bought her CD and yes, I like her. But she is not going to get any more sales from me because of her fans. That is the way it is. If her fans stop breaking Clay's CDs and stop trying to ruin his rep maybe I will reconsider. I disagree that her fans have nothing to do with her music. It gives me a bad taste in my mouth. And it was NOT Clay's fans who made the threats it was Kelly's fans posing as Clay fans. I know for a fact they brag about it!
19 - Temple Stark
Good to hear a singer's perspective Steve H. Well written post.. so thanks for the read.
20 - julie
Clay Aiken not having radio play? No kidding! I've requested his songs on a local station, and even during a "all requests" slot, they will not play his music. DJ's have told me they're 'not allowed" to play his music.
Entertainment 19, who manages all talent initially from American Idol, didn't want Clay to be more successful than Ruben, as that would cast doubt on their results. Somehow they were able to blackball Clay from getting radio play.
Clay Aiken put out a VERY successful Christmas album. On stations with "all christmas music, all the time" formats, they did not play any of his songs. His album, the most successful holiday album of 2004, was the ONLY one they were not allowed to play songs from. Requests by email and phone were ignored. One DJ told me she had no idea why, but she had been told to play all requests except for Clay Aiken.
I hope Primetime dug deep enough to actually expose some of this.
21 - Carol
I live in Chicago. Clay has not been played on our radio. Ever. Not his pop songs, and not even Christmas songs.
A common excuse from radio people is that he's too polarizing. And why wouldn't they think so, if every spin of his songs is followed by nasty phone calls from Kelly Clarkson fans. These are the people who spam polls trashing Clay, break or hide his CDs in stores, and otherwise are determined to damage his career. And you know why? Because their little princess was totally outsang, outperformed, and otherwise left in the dust by Clay on their joint Independent Tour. They did not hate him as much before that. And since they plot these shenanigans on the message board that Kelly and her friends visit, she has got to be well aware of what is going on, and hasn't done anything to stop it.
Because of that, I will not support her in anything ever again.
22 - ataylor
I enjoyed your articulate discussion of the American Idol phenomonon and where it is today. Not much of a TV watcher before, I've found myself totally fascinated by this show and the glimpse we get into the music business. This is obviously a very lucrative and powerful industry.
I agree with so much of what you said about the show. Because of its huge popularity, it seems almost inevitable that it has some "secrets" and that it will become a target. And the chance that the formula for its success will eventually become its downfall looms larger with each season. In the meantime, I find it addicting and entertaining.
Thanks for sharing your perspective. Keep on bringing us these interesting viewpoints!
23 - Mellie
"From what I have heard and read, Clay is not played on the radio, because of HIS fans, and their threats. Dj's stick together, and over exuberant fans actually threatened dire circumstances, if Clay's music was not played."
In my town, Clay is not played. Employees at two sister radio stations were threatened with physical violence by so-called Clay fans. Guess what? Some research was done by some savvy folks with the latest techniques, and the threats were traced back to known Ruben fans who were known to specialize in trying to hurt Clay in any way possible. I find it interesting that the quote above came from someone trying to promote Ruben. I had thought these vicious people had gone away. They need to get a life and support their own guy instead of trying to knock down Clay. The result of this whole fiasco with the threats was that the two stations said they would never again play Clay or Ruben. But I guess hurting their own artist's radio play was worth it to them since they hurt Clay also. They are sick.
24 - Benjamin
Cj, you are extremely naive if you think radio programmers, especially at Top 40, give a crap about what you want heard. Have you never heard of the infamous "Indies" aka "Independent Promoters" who are PAID PER SONG by each record label to push songs at radio stations? Stations are offered all kinds of incentives, free concert & even sporting tickets, CDs & memorabilia for on-air giveaways, plus artist interviews, artist participation in seasonal radio-sponsored concerts for little or no pay, etc. in exhange for heavy rotation of the song. As long as it is not CASH being given & it goes through the "Indies," it is considered "legal."
Not for long, tho. The Attorney General of NY State has been conducting an extensive investigation & will release a scathing report in the next year or so. Indictments to soon follow, no doubt. PAYOLA is alive & well on the American airwaves.
Clear Channel, the largest corporate owner of radio stations in the country, is being sued by several artists who were blacklisted from CC playlists simply because they did not sign with Clear Channel as their concert tour promoter. Kelly & Clay were summarily dropped from rotation early last year when they did not sign with CC Concert Promotions for their "Independent Tour." Kelly's "The Trouble With Love Is" was slowly climbing the Top 40 chart & was dumped like a hot potato practically overnight. Clay's "The Way" had just been released & after about 3 weeks of play was also canned. Nothing particularly wrong with the songs. CC exercised it's power & that was that.
Why do you think that Ruben's "Sorry 2004" went nowhere on Top 40? That style of R&B/Hip-Hop is booming. It was a good song. But J Records decided that they were better off spending their promotion budget for him at Urban stations & so that is where he was primarily heard. Clay's "Invisible" did very well at Top 40 because it was the lead single off his album in 2003 & labels are insane if they don't promote a new artist's lead single. Clay did mountains of radio interviews, participated in radio concerts, stations gave away thousands of tickets & CDS - RCA played the game & Clay had a hit. Then his album debuted Double Platinum, he sailed through Christmas at the top of the sales charts & his label decided that their promotion budget was better spent on artists who needed the push more. This is all very common. RCA has been extremely lax in promoting Clay's subsequent singles because frankly, he's making them a mint without it, with albums, commercial singles, memorabilia & concert sales. Watch for his second pop album to be promoted heavily, however, especially the lead single. It's time he returned to the Top 40 airwaves & they know it.
Kelly has been given a huge promotional push for her latest album. Her sales have been good, but disappointing considering her heavy airplay. Even Clay's seasonal Christmas album had a better debut week than her mainstream pop CD. So her songs get promoted - Kelly is out there doing everything she can to appease the stations & it's working. One of the songwriters of "Since U Been Gone" even had the balls to post on a public message board that RCA had guaranteed her #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 & were putting all their promotion money into getting it. Well, they just missed the mark, but the airwaves are saturated with Kelly right now. With her latest release, some stations are even playing 3 Kelly songs. Does this mean that all the listeners want to hear is Kelly? Please. There's plenty of grumbling from the public & the industry both. Does this mean that Kelly is better than any other artist? Puh-leaze. There are hundreds of excellent artists out there who can't get a single track even in low rotation because they don't have big label money behind them. For every Kelly song that is added on top of another Kelly song, that's just one more worthy artist that radio listeners will never hear. The same thing happened with Maroon 5 last year & Avril Lavigne before that - both RCA artists, I might add, like Kelly & Clay. Avril isn't pushed as hard now because she's proved herself in sales.
And how do I know all this? Because I happen to be the overnight DJ at a small Clear Channel station in the midwest. I'm the guy who plays all the new singles that get relegated to the wee hours of the morning due to low promotion from the artists' labels. Believe me, I've heard plenty of great tunes that never see the light of day. A new thing is for labels to purchase blocks of advertising time on the graveyard shift & use it to have us play a song they are trying to acquire more spins for. Now that's actual PAYOLA, but you didn't hear it from me.
I enjoy the "American Idol" show & like all the kids, though admittedly it's not my favorite genre of music. I play rock, hip-hop & a bit of softer pop at work, then go home & listen to jazz. When I'm really bored, I read & comment on internet blogs - lol! What I find most amusing is when people comment with authority about how radio works & they are so obviously ignorant of the business. They need to wake up & smell the coffee. It's plenty bitter out here.
But, hey, it was a great article, Steve. I hope I was able to answer some of your questions.
25 - Eric Olsen
really great discussion, thanks all. DJs on commercial radio have virtually no choice in what they play, they follow a computer-generated play list. Many are not even live, they record their "breaks" on a computer all at once and then the software mixes the preselected music with the spoken breaks. Why do you think I'm not in commercial radio anymore?